Wisconsin's natural communities

A community is an assemblage of different plant and animal species, living
together in a particular area, at a particular time, in a specific habitat.
Communities may be named for their dominant plant species, for example,
pine barrens, sedge meadows and oak savannas, a prominent environmental
feature - Great Lakes Dune, Dry Cliff - or some combination of these factors.
Communities range in size from less than an acre to thousands of acres.
Communities are dynamic and always changing. Some change may be rapid
while other change is too slow for many humans to notice during their
brief lifetimes.

The Natural Heritage Inventory tracks
examples of all types of Wisconsin's natural communities that are deemed
significant because of their undisturbed condition, size, what occurs
around them or for other reasons. These pages provide descriptions, general
locations and other information for Wisconsin's natural communities. The
communities are presented in aggregated groups.